Strip District

It may not look like anything’s happening at the Produce Terminal in Pittsburgh’s Strip District neighborhood, but the building's developer expects to ink a final contract with the Urban Redevelopment Authority and begin renovation by the end of the year.

There are eight lock and dam systems on the Allegheny River, but according to maps, they go from two to eight. For 90.5 WESA's Good Question series, Katie Blackley explores what happened to Allegheny River Lock and Dam No. 1.

Terry Grantz stood on a swaying dock, pointing to a massive, off-white concrete block. He’s the manager of Lockwall One Marina, a private facility in the Strip District below the Cork Factory Lofts.

After months of building and $3.8 million in construction costs, the Midwife Center in the Strip District has more than doubled its space to 11,700 square feet. Unveiled by officials on Thursday, it's now the largest freestanding birthing center in the country.

At nearly five city blocks long, the Pennsylvania Fruit and Auction, known to locals as the Produce Terminal, is hard to miss. It sits along Smallman Street between 16th and 20th and seems to watch over the business on Penn Avenue.

Hundreds of independent Pittsburgh businesses will participate in this year’s Small Business Saturday initiative. Created by American Express in 2010, the day seeks to draw attention to the importance of shopping at locally-owned stores during the holiday season and all year long.

Jacqueline Wardle was working as the executive chef at Isabela on Grandview, a Mt. Washington restaurant, when she received a beguiling email: Instead of working for someone else, did she want to own her own restaurant?

Pittsburghers can explore parts of Downtown, Lawrenceville and the Strip District unimpeded by cars on Sunday for the summer's first Open Streets event.

Vehicle traffic will be barred for a 3.5-mile stretch of Penn Avenue and Butler Street from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., but drivers will be able to cross at several intersections. Last year, about 44,000 people took part in three block parties combined.

Oxford Development Company’s apartment project for the Strip District, The Yards at 3 Crossings, will have hundreds of people living about 100 feet from the south bank of the Allegheny River as early as this year.

The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority board voted Thursday on a proposal to revitalize the Strip District produce terminal. We’ll learn about the results of the meeting and what this will mean for the future of the area from Kevin Acklin, URA board chairman and Mayor Peduto’s chief of staff.

Order! Order! It’s time for Social Club. If you are like WESA’s Josh and Sarah and Yelp Pittsburgh’s Rachel, you have been watching way too much Netflix, so it’s time to go out and explore all the fun things going on in the city. You can always watch Making a Murderer and Jessica Jones when you get back.

Essential Pittsburgh's Katie Blackly interviews the president and vice-president of Neighbors in the Strip.

The Strip District: it's the most requested map in the city of Pittsburgh and one of the most diverse, authentic and colorful neighborhoods. Essential Pittsburgh visited business owners, local shoppers and city officials about what makes the neighborhood work, how they’re collaborating to keep its “old world” feel, and where they’d like to see it go from here. Up front, Essential Pittsburgh's Katie Blackley speaks with Neighbors in the Strip board president Don Orkoskey and vice president Bonn McSorley.

The first tenants will move into the new 54,000-square-foot 3 Crossings office building in the Strip District on Sept. 1, completing the first wave of a series of redevelopment projects between 25th and 27th streets.

Steve Guy, president and CEO of Oxford Development Company, said the project will give the area sorely-needed amenities like sidewalks, curbs, drainage and groundwater control systems, as well as updating the electrical pole configurations to more efficiently meet the needs of the neighborhood at large.

In the 1800’s, the building in the 2400 block of Smallman Street was the Duquesne Cigar Factory. As recently as this week, it was an industrial vacuum cleaner company. And soon, it will be home to 38 more condominiums.

Its neighbors? Other condominium buildings, a whiskey distillery and soon, according to published reports, an Apple Inc. office.

Real estate agent Kathy Wallace lauded Pittsburgh's rich, architectural history. As the Steel City's identity evolved, many buildings were left underutilized and sometimes abandoned as their uses changed over time, she said.

On the House is a new segment focused on Pittsburgh's food and beverage industry. The segment will explore everything from how the city gets fresh fish to how a line cook makes ends meet. We'll introduce you to innovative chefs, define the language of the industry and explain the details that go into putting your food on your plate and your drink in your glass.

Meat is in demand, and prices are up — 11 percent for beef and pork from 2013-2014. And as people pay more per pound at the counter, they may be more selective and interested in just how their meat gets from the farm to the butcher to the dinner table.

When Diane Faust started losing her eyesight in 2008 as a result of optic nerve damage, she didn’t know where to turn, but she knew she had two options.

“I could hide in my house the rest of my life, ignore the outside world,” Faust said. “Or, I could try to gain as much of my independence back and get back to as much of a normal life as possible. Those folks have been so instrumental in helping me to do that.”

The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh Thursday voted to terminate a contract with the Buncher Company for possible redevelopment of the Produce Terminal in the Strip District. The URA then voted to negotiate with two separate entities over the next 90 days about possible development.

When Michael Rubino envisions the future of the Strip District, he sees a grand marketplace at the site of the old Pennsylvania Fruit Auction and Sales building, with a farmer’s market, restaurants, business incubators, Amish craftspeople and closeout vendors.

Pittsburgh’s Strip District has been added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic District.

There are currently 18 National Historic Districts registered in Pittsburgh, with the Strip District the latest addition. The 13-block area being recognized will include more than 60 buildings between 15th and 22nd streets and the St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church.

Now that we’re three weeks into the new year, it might be a good time to evaluate your progress on your new year's resolution.

Or, if you’re in the market for a new goal, try ours: Here’s a list of 51 things that every Pittsburgher should do at least once. Try to cross all 51 off the list before you, ahem, before 2014 kicks the bucket.

(Have your own ideas for must-do Pittsburgh activities? Share your own Pittsburgh Bucket List with us on Twitter and Facebook: #PghBucketList.)

A vote on whether the Strip District’s Fruit Auction and Sales Building should be designated as a historic structure will be delayed another week.

Council’s newest member, Deb Gross, represents the Strip District, and is in favor of preserving the building to the fullest extent possible.

“Having said the word 'preserve,' everyone understands that some modifications are going to be needed to that property in order for it to achieve a positive function in the Strip District and a positive function in the business mix,” Gross said.

The race for the District 7 Pittsburgh City Council seat looks to be wide open heading into the election Tuesday. Five candidates are vying for the spot vacated by Patrick Dowd in July. Politically, the candidates are as diverse as the district.

A Democrat, a Libertarian, and a handful of independents all want to represent District 7, which runs from the Strip District to Highland Park and includes Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, Polish Hill, Friendship, Morningside, and Stanton Heights.

If you’re noticing parking spaces around the city being taken up by art installations, sitting areas and small “parklets,” it’s because Friday is international PARK(ing) Day.

This is Pittsburgh’s sixth year celebrating the day, which highlights how public spaces and parks improve the community. The installations are meant to turn urban spaces designed for vehicle use into communal space.

This year there are 20 registered spaces throughout downtown, the Strip District, Lawrenceville, Oakland, and the South Side, compared to 19 in 2008.